How Virtual aesthetics Can Radically Impact Sales

Web layout and design is quite similar to merchandising, as you are visually guiding your customer throughout the site. Presentation plays a big role. An extensive background retail has certainly shown me the importance of visual impact. However, visual impact is essential regardless of your product’s price point. Consumer appetites for online content has only increased as web search and mobile use continue to rise. What is changing, however, is consumers’ “tastes” for that content. Today, many consumers want to learn by seeing a trend that is leading marketers to shift their approach toward strategic graphics and imagery in their digital marketing plans.

Consumer attention has shifted from engaging with text-heavy content to more visually appealing, short-form content, including visual updates, stories, ads and videos. Brands who can skilfully convey their messages by mixing these visual elements into their content recipe will be the ones winning with online searchers and customers. Your visuals need to tell your story, connect viewers to your brand and lead them to additional action and engagement with your business. In this post, we explore the areas of your digital marketing plan where you can start to make a visual impact that has the potential to affect your marketing and sales results.

________________________________________________________________

"We are visual beings!"

________________________________

According to psychologist Albert Mehrabian, 93% of all communication is nonverbal. Consider how we react to body language or why silent movies are so compelling despite the lack of verbal dialogue. What we see has a profound effect on what we do, how we feel, and who we are. How you use graphics can greatly affect how you and your business are perceived.

• 75% users make judgments on a company’s credibility based on its website design.

• 88% of users are not likely to return when they have had a bad user experience.

Marketers who embrace visual content reap the rewards of higher returns in terms of more fans, followers, readers, leads, clients and, of course, revenue. If you are not yet focusing on visual content in your marketing strategy, whether on social media or in your email campaigns, it’s time to re-imagine your plan.

"I certainly think, that visual / pictorial representation of the product with apt descriptions will fetch more attention than just plain texts with simple/ no pictures. Sometimes, using a bit of flash/ motion in displaying a product online is more attractive. Factors like color, accurate product description, the offers/ deals; kind of, short and brief within a small layout in the site can be viewed more easily, rather than long descriptions where people would instead just scroll down or something with little or interest." , says Harsha Vardhan- a student at Jain University.

Why is website design so important?

When you have a subject or idea in mind and you need to gain more knowledge, we read books. We now live in a space- age where we search for it on Google and click on links we think we can find legitimate answers. A space where searching for information online is quick. The navigation on the website is simplified and its obvious of how to navigate the site and move form section to section. If you can find what you’re looking for quickly and easily, it means the website has been designed well, with usability in mind. And usability is made of a sum of characteristics which make the navigation of the users really easy to handle when they enter a website, as we will discuss further on.

The design of a website is important because it affects how quickly visitors can find what they are looking for. If it is difficult or frustrating, the visitor will leave and try on another site and that is a lost opportunity. A good design will be easy to understand and navigate, helping potential customers find what they need and taking you one step closer to making a sale or getting in touch.

If you feel that your design isn’t quite what it should be, think about the following aspects to see how your website can be improved:

Aesthetics

One thing is clear: a website has to look good. But it’s extremely important to keep usability in mind and not sacrifice it just for the sake of appearance. The design should lead the eye from what’s most important to secondary items; this can be done with space and typography. Images and colors can be used for calls to action. And a professional, modern look can immediately build trust. The possibilities are endless but a good design will create trust and guide visitors to take action.

Organization

Just like your house, everything in a website needs to have a logical place, helping site visitors easily find what they are looking for. The site navigation needs to be in a logical and consistent place on every single page. It should be apparent what is the main content on a page and what is secondary, based on size and location. Everything on a page needs to have a purpose. We have seconds to make an impression and if the organization doesn’t make sense, the visitor will leave.

Zahid Farooqui, Account Manager at Ethinos Digital Marketing comments, "Design isn’t just what it looks and feels like, design is how it works. Good design is one of the most influential tool. You can see the effect of good design in supermarkets, where chains spend millions of dollars testing to find exactly the right place to arrange products. Why? Because good design influences a shoppers behaviour, and placing products in the right location increases sales. That logic translates to online shopping, too. Certain design decisions can encourage your visitors to spend more money, to buy more products or services, and to become a repeat customer. A picture is worth a thousand words, and when it comes to capturing your audience’s attention, you want to take full advantage of every chance to communicate your message. for eg: Traffic signs are designed to convey all the necessary information in as little time as possible. If they were to rely on text alone, they wouldn’t be fit for purpose.

Good web design always caters to the needs of the user. Each page of your website needs to have a clear purpose, and to fulfil a specific need for your website users in the most effective way possible. People on the web tend to want information quickly, so it is important to communicate clearly, and make your information easy to read and digest. Some effective tactics to include in your web design include: organising information using headlines and sub headlines, using bullet points instead of long windy sentences, and cutting the waffle."

Website

The main goal and idea behind visually attractive websites is to ensure your leading visitors revisit again and again. The emphasis added on your homepage is a step you shouldn't overlook. A step you can’t overlook.

Some of the most important elements to focus on in order to make a visual impact include:

· Homepage featured image. Make this image meaningful, impactful and relevant to the message you want to convey at first glance.

· Colors. The colors you use on your site should represent your brand and show consistency throughout your site. Color can create an emotional reaction or connection to your message and should be carefully considered when designing your website.

· Simplicity. Less is more when leading website visitors to the next action you want them to take. Adding too many images and graphics can sometimes cause a busy look to your website. Keep it clean, simple and easy-to-navigate.

· Story Telling: We are selling a fantasy, a story and an emotion.

Communicating that is essential, visually and with the right wording for each product. This is the perfect opportunity to set the stage for your product, while engaging and connecting with your customer, so they fall in love with what you are selling. Note that whatever tone you use to tell your story will psychologically reflect your brand and its culture in your client’s mind. Story telling is also a great opportunity to communicate your brand’s background and inspiration. Transmit passion and excitement to your consumer and they will feel it too.

Visual Elements: Think more images and less text.

Are you using high quality images to support your brand?

Would you immediately gravitate towards your product, if presented visually?

Low quality images, visual clutter, as well as lack of visual flow and consistency can distract your consumer and ultimately look unprofessional, while making the product visually lose its value. It also may hint to the consumer that the brand is outdated. Pay close attention to the look and feel of these images, as well as how they relate to each other. Present your product the best way possible, whether it’s on a model or on its own. Effective merchandising is vital.

Web layout and design is quite similar to merchandising, as you are visually guiding your customer throughout the site. Presentation plays a big role.

The key message to take from this article is that paying close attentions to small details can translate into big sales.

According to, Brian Fernandes, R&D Division manager, AutoPRO Software Solutions, says, "Web design is the only way you can influence consumer behaviour on your website. Once the marketing is done and you've managed to get people to look at your website web design is the key to make people navigate around. Web design can guide the customer to click or scroll without the customer knowing it and finally directing them to contact you to buy their final desired product. Visuals are important, but good content is even more important. If there is nothing that educates the user about your company or product, the web design alone cannot manage to keep the users on the site. I think crisp and easy to find information are important. Also branding colours and other matters of the website should not be cluttered. If the target audience are millennial then more images and lesser text would be vital. But if u have an older target audience, then more text and lesser images"

SOCIAL MEDIA

Social media content has gone through an evolution, just as all web content has. Web content that started as sharing ideas through text articles changed to Facebook posts, then to short 140-character tweets and now is focused on storytelling through images, infographics and short videos on platforms like Instagram.

So much of social media contains visuals now that Pinterest, a platform that features nearly all visual material, is now the 4th largest driver of internet traffic.

Other ideas for including visuals in social media posts include:

· Add timely photos

· Add videos

· Add graphic treatment to stats and quotes

BLOG

Blog articles published as educational pieces are not going away any time soon. Marketing research shows that 90% of consumers find custom content useful (Source: TMG Custom Media). Sometimes online consumers have made a purchase based on recommendations from a blog.

A smart visual approach on you blog should include:

· Consistent Visual Theme / Format

How to do it: Depending on the blog platform you use, you may have pre-designed themes available to choose from; or you may choose to create a custom visual look for the blog if you have the design resources and budget. The visual theme should support the brand you’re building. It should also be consistent, meaning that when a reader comes to your blog, he/she should be able to recognize “you” (your business) in your blog your posts; they should be visually consistent and set up and formatted in a similar way.

· Videos

Where to use them: It’s a great idea to publish original videos as stand alone blog posts or to embed curated or borrowed videos within your blog content to support points you’re writing about.

· Original artwork or images

Where to use them: Original visual content, whether your own or borrowed from sites makes your brand more real and more approachable to visitors. Each blog post should contain a featured image that relates in some way to your blog topic. Other images can be used throughout the post to support your content.

Please Note!: Everyone can spot a cheesy, stock photo. In general, these make your brand seem unauthentic and unthoughtful. Avoid them if at all possible.

Company

United 9 is a start up, promoted by Niksan Info Media Private Limited, a company dedicated to the Intimate Apparel Industry for over two decades, through its verticals Lace-n-Lingerie and Bodywear Bulletin - both pioneering monthly publications for the Lingerie Professionals. Their revamped website www.lacenlingerie.com is a leading destination for the Intimate apparel industry.